![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/sprinkler-box-before.jpg\" "\\"sprinkler-box-before\\"")
<\/p>\nBack to birds tomorrow. Or at least soon.<\/p>\n
For the last week I’ve been consumed by a potentially disastrous leak in my sprinkler system. The leak was in the supply line (where it attaches to the sprinkler manifold) to my back sprinkler box, which is right next to my the foundation of my house. So my finished basement was in imminent danger of being flooded – a very big deal.<\/p>\n
For the first few days I attempted to repair it myself, which involved digging it out to fully expose all the valves and PVC pipes so I could work on them. But with two recently “installed” metal rods and associated screws in my back, the work was agonizingly painful and slow. So eventually I gave up and called a sprinkler repairman.<\/p>\n
That was a mistake. At least calling the specific repairman I called was a mistake – an expensive one.<\/p>\n
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This is what my supply line, manifold, sprinkler valves and pipes looked like after the “fix”. He told me to “wait until tomorrow” to use my sprinklers so the pipe glue could set completely, which I did. When I tested all four back zones – yes, the supply line leak had been fixed but now I had two more leaks below the valves. And when I tried repeatedly to contact the repairman to get him to come back and fix his botched job he had disappeared, as if by magic. He just ignored my efforts to contact him (long story, but those are the basics).<\/p>\n
So, it had cost me $460 and a week of pain and frustration to go from one leak to two.<\/p>\n
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I was so pissed off I knew that I’d better put it out of my mind for a few days to let my blood pressure stabilize before somehow tackling it again, which I did. After a three day cooling off period I did what I should have done the first time. I visited Sprinkler Supply Company<\/a><\/span><\/span>, an outfit I trust, to get their recommendation for a reliable sprinkler repairman. They recommended Malcom.<\/p>\n This time I’d had enough. My sprinkler system is an old one so Malcom and I decided to replace and redesign everything in the sprinkler box, including valves, manifold and pipe connections and move the whole shebang a short distance to a better location.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n This is what the inside of my sprinkler box looks like after all of Malcom’s work – everything’s new, compact, neat and tidy and there are no leaks. And Malcom charged me less than I paid the fly-by-night bozo who charged me $460 to go from one leak to two. Live and learn.<\/p>\n Thanks, Malcom. It was refreshing to work with a real professional and as a bonus, you were interesting and fun to talk to.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Back to birds tomorrow. Or at least soon. (2 photos)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/sprinkler-box-after.jpg\" "\\"sprinkler-box-after\\"")
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